In certain circles, alligator shoes and crocodile shoes are one and the same. To the untrained eye, they certainly look the same if you had two pairs of the identical-style shoe made from either skin. The two animals are related although they do have differences not only in what they look like but even in the texture of their skin as well. For more info, read out blog post:
How can you tell if Alligator shoes are real?
The scales on crocodile skin shoes have a far more uniform appearance of square texture compared to alligator shoes. The scales are also smaller in general compared to an alligator. Crocodile skin for some reason is just far more consistent in appearance whereas alligator skin can vary big time from smaller scales to very large square blocks of scales depending on the alligator and part of the alligator the skin comes from. Look at the pictures enclosed and you'll immediately see the difference and variation that alligator skin has compared to crocodile skin. The alligator scales are big and vary in size and even shape a bit while the crocodile skin looks almost the same throughout looking very consistent indeed. You can find these differences even in Mezlan shoes.
Now let's talk price. Alligator shoes are the king of the hill. Shoe for shoe, alligator costs much more than crocodile shoes. In fact, since alligator shoes can cost several hundred dollars more than crocodile shoes, there are sometimes unscrupulous dealers that try to sell you alligator shoes that are really made out of crocodile skin. These gator shoes may still be high-quality hand made shoes but if you know what alligator shoes are, you shouldn't be tricked into buying something that isn't what it says.
What makes alligator shoes cost more than crocodile footwear is supply like everything else. There is simply far less alligator skins available to be used for the manufacture of shoes and other products because of laws governing their slaughter and limited numbers. There seem to be far more crocodiles around where as alligators aren't found in as many places on the planet compared to crocodiles. This causes the cost of the skins to be more expensive and therefore makes for a more expensive exotic skin gator shoe. Otherwise, whether you're a fan of alligator shoes or crocodile shoes, you can rest your weary mind that you are still wearing very fine exotic skin high end shoes that you have treated yourself to.